(This post is part two of a three-part series. Part one:
"
Sorry, tweens: No sweepstakes or contests until you're
13.")
The Federal Trade Commission wants to bolster the law that
prohibits the disclosure of children's personal information
online. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is
designed to ensure that children under the age of 13 do not
disclose any personal information about themselves without their
parent's permission. The COPPA rules were adopted in 2000.
Because of the many technological changes and the increase in use
of the Internet by young children since 2000, the FTC decided last
year to review the Rule to see if it needed to be amended.
As part of this process, the Commission requested comments from
the public and received nearly 200 comments from industry representatives,
advocacy groups, academics, technologists, and individual members
of the public in late 2011. The FTC proposed several amendments
that are designed to
